Scene 21, 2021, A Tacoma Hotel, meanwhile
"Is our guest secure?" Lydecker said into his cellular as he sped down the highway between Seattle and Tacoma. "Good, keep him there, and keep him comfortable. She'll be looking for him soon enough, but she won't think to look so close to home. I have something to take care of."
He snapped the cell phone shut and pocketed it, turning into a hotel parking lot. Lydecker handed his vehicle over to the valet and entered the hotel.
When he reached room 319, he knocked on the door. Karen Parker answered.
"Yes?" she asked, then she recognized him, "Oh, Mr. Lydecker! Did you find your daughter?"
"Yes, I did, thank you," he said, acting the part of the relieved father.
"Would you like to come in? I can have room service bring us something while you tell me how it went with your daughter."
"Yes, please," he said, stepping into the room.
Karen went to the phone, "What would you like?"
"Before you do that, I want to give you something to say thank you for helping me find her," he said, putting on gloves. He walked up behind her and held the gun to her chest. Karen gasped when she felt the gun. She tried to get out of his grasp, but he held her too tightly. "You understand I can't have any witnesses," Lydecker said before taking her hand, placing it on the gun and pulling the trigger.
The silencer muffled the noise of the shot. Karen fell to the floor, a red stain spreading across her white blouse. Thank God I left Brandon with the baby-sitter, Karen thought, and then her last thought before she lost consciousness and stopped breathing, Damn her.
Lydecker checked her pulse, and once satisfied, placed the gun in Karen's hand. He pulled a pre-typed note out of his pocket and placed it on the desk. 'Dear Logan,' it began.
Lydecker shut the door and left the hotel, retrieving his vehicle from the valet.
Scene 22, 2021, Logan's Penthouse, early morning
After arguing with Zack, and getting answers out of him as to where he'd been, Max, Zack, and Bling drove back to town.
Zack had escaped Manticore three months ago, while Max was still in New York. He hadn't known she wasn't in Seattle, but avoided the city to make sure Lydecker didn't find out she was there. Finally sure he wasn't being trailed out right; Zack had found his way to the cabin to hide out, and walked into a hurricane. Hurricane Max.
Max used her set of keys to get into the building and then the apartment. She threw her bag on the couch and headed straight for the computer. "First thing we need to do is locate all possible bases of operation for Lydecker's lair, and then use process of elimination to find it," she said turning on the computer.
"What makes you so sure Lydecker's keeping Logan in Seattle instead of putting him on the next plane to Manticore where he's on home turf?" Zack asked.
"SOP," Max answered, "In any hostage situation, the hostage taker keeps the hostage in nearby location so as to have him or her handy for any negations, exchanges, or the like," Max said.
"Basically, you don't ignore the fact that he's good Max bait," Bling said.
Scene 23, 2021, Jam Pony, later that morning
Cindy and Herbal were returning from their runs when Sketchy met them outside.
"The magazine crew is here, checking out the place," he told them, "What to we do?"
Cindy thought on it for a moment, "I wish Max was here, but we'll have to play with out her. Just follow my lead," she said entering the messenger service.
"Normal," Cindy called in a syrupy voice, "Got another run for me?"
"Well, looks like somebody finally decided that this was a place of work," he said, excusing himself from the magazine people.
"What do you mean? I've been busting my butt all morning," Cindy whined.
"Yeah and pigs are flying," Normal said. He handed Cindy a package, "Fifth and Main." He looked around the room, "And where the fire truck is Max?"
Meanwhile Sketchy and Herbal were talking to the people from Better Bikes and Messengers.
"So, Reagan is a good boss?" Marsha Miller was asking them.
"Regan? Oh, you mean Normal," Sketchy said, "Oh yeah, he's a great boss as long as he doesn't loose his temper."
"Which he looses often," Herbal interjected.
"And then nothing we do is good enough," Sketchy told them, "In fact, our co-worker Max is at home because Normal made her cry last week when she dropped a package."
"Hasn't come in the whole week," Herbal said.
"I see," Marsha said, her expression growing worried.
"One time he made me deliver a package deep into gang territory, even though it endangered my life," Sketchy stated.
"And when a fellow colleague of ours died, and his ashes were delivered here, Normal wouldn't pay the COD on them," Herbal said, "We had to sacrifice and scrape together our meager wages to pay for it."
"And we didn't even mention the hideous jerkin thingy he wants us to wear," Sketchy said, "It's extremely unflattering."
Normal returned. "Well, I see you've been talking to two of my finest riders," he said patting both Herbal and Sketchy on the back, "All good things I hope."
"Um, would you excuse us," Marsha said to Herbal and Sketchy. They joined Cindy over by the lockers.
"Aren't you supposed to be on a run?" Sketchy asked her.
"Yeah, but I figured I stay and watch."
The three of them watched as Marsha reprimanded Normal for his "harsh treatment of employees" and Normal tried to deny it. Finally Marsha stomped out, pulling her photographer with her. Normal glumly returned to his desk.
Cindy, Herbal, and Sketchy exchanged high fives.
Scene 24, 2021, Logan's, meanwhile
Max and Bling were hard at work, searching for places where Lydecker could be hiding Logan. Zack was securing the area around Fogle Towers, making sure they hadn't been followed and weren't being traced.
Max looked at her watch, realized it was 11:26 and that she was late for work. Not like she was going in . . .
She got up and called Normal. "Normal? It's Max. Listen, I need to take some time off." She waited. "It's personal. And I don't know when I'll be back." Again, she waited. "Ok, fine." She hung up.
"What'd he say?" Bling asked.
"I can take all the time I need, as long as I don't count on my job being there when I get back," she told him, "which doesn't matter, because I probably won't be coming back."
Bling was about to reply when Zack returned. "What you got?" Zack asked.
"Five possible targets," Max told him, "Three within the city, one north, one east, and one on Sedro Island."
"What's the most logical one?" Zack asked.
"Sedro. We're going tonight."
Scene 25, 2021, Sedro Island, that night
Max and Zack snuck silently around the perimeter of the compound. It was supposed to be deserted, but it was crawling with soldiers. This was definitely Lydecker's base of operations.
Max was about to scale the fence when Zack pulled her back. "It's electric, Max. If you don't jump it cleanly, well, it's a severely high voltage. You'll be killed."
"I'll risk it," she told him before she took a leap over it, her feet missing it by a fraction of an inch. Zack shrugged and followed her. They dodged searchlights and snuck past soldiers to get to the main building in the complex. They split up, Max circling to the right while Zack went to the left.
Max was peering in a window, trying to catch a glimpse of what was inside through the dusty, dim glass when she saw the reflection of a figure behind her. She whirled, and catching the person off guard, she tackled them to the ground. The figure fought back, and Max found she was struggling to stay ahead of the other person. Could this be another Manticore, she wondered, or is it a Red?
Finally Max got the better of the masked figure, tackling them to the ground. She ripped off the mask and red hair spilled forth. The figure was a girl, about Max's age. She flipped her hair from her face. It was Tara, Kendra's roommate.
Tara.
"Max?" Tara cried.
"What are you doing here?"
"Max, it's me, Tinga. I'm here to rescue Logan."
"But how?" Max wondered.
"Logan doesn't know it, but I'm part of his informant net," Tinga said, "A few months ago there was a rumor that Lydecker was closing in on him, so I moved to Seattle to keep an eye on things. Apparently Manticore is interested in the effect of it's technology on others."
Max flashed back to the day she'd saved his life by giving him that transfusion. She should have known that Lydecker would find out and be interested in Logan.
Zack returned from his surveillance trip, eyeing Tinga carefully.
"Hey Zack," Tinga said.
"Tinga."
Max remembered that the two hadn't always gotten along, but knew when to put aside their differences for the greater good.
"Logan's in the main building," Tinga said.
"And there's about twenty guards crawling around it," Zack replied.
"Like that's stopped us before?" Max said.
Zack and Tinga grinned. The three figures snuck silently up to the main building in the complex. Zack motioned them to split up, each heading in a different way. Tinga took the roof and worked her way down. Zack took the tunnels underneath and worked his way up. Max just walked straight in.
"Hello, Max," Lydecker said, standing behind Logan with a hand on his chair, "Where's Zack?"
"Don't know. But I've come to turn myself in. Me for Logan."
Logan was desperately trying to get Max's attention. He couldn't let her do this. "Max, No!" he yelled.
Lydecker backhanded him. "Where are the others, Max? Is Zack here? Tinga? Or maybe Jondie," he sneered.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but it's just me."
"Max, I know you kids. You forget, I taught you everything I know. You wouldn't come here alone, and make an offer like that," Lydecker said, "Who else is here?"
"Me. Only me. Guess you didn't teach me very well, did you?" Max replied.
"I have to say, this is not how I wanted it, but," he motioned around him, "meet your siblings. The ones who didn't escape."
Max's head swiveled from side to side, taking them in. They advanced on her, an angry look in their eyes. They didn't remember her. They saw her as the enemy. Max tried to suppress the feelings that were rising I inside her. She didn't want to fight them, but it was clear that Lydecker wasn't going to hand Logan over.
Max managed to signal to Zack and Tinga to stay hidden. Assessing her options, she pulled herself into a fighting stance facing the biggest of the X5's that were coming at her. Max threw a punch and followed it up with a roundhouse, making direct contact both times.
But unfortunately, her attacker grabbed her ankle, throwing her into the air. She landed with a thud, momentarily getting the wind knocked out of her. Recovering, she stood and attacked the second one, while trying to throw the first off of her back. Max bent down and grabbed the shoulders of the hanging on her back. Flipping him, she used the momentum to catapult herself into the air, spiraling at the third attacker, hitting him in the chest with both feet.
But they had the upper hand. They'd been trained and tested by Lydecker longer than she had. They knew all of her moves, and more. Max was finally subdued by her 'siblings' and brought to Lydecker.
"It's not as bad as you remember, Max," Lydecker said, before sticking a needle into her vein, knocking her out.
Zack and Tinga attacked.
Everything exploded into action. Soldiers fired at Zack and Tinga, who were dodging bullets as they fought off numerous attackers, mostly the other X5's. Tinga was wrestli wrestling with one of the other Fivers, a girl they'd called Risa. Risa had been a match for Tinga in the Manticore days, and she still was now.
Tinga blocked Risa's spin kick and lashed out with one of her own that barely made contact as Risa spun into a new attack position. Tinga thrust her hand forward, connecting with Risa's chest, pushing her back. While Risa recovered, Tinga glanced over at Zack.
Zack was fighting another X5, a guy named Keiley, and disarming a soldier at the same time. From the looks of things, he was holding his own.
Lydecker, meanwhile, was calling for soldiers to take Max and Logan. Zack, disposing of the soldier and knocking out Keiley, forced his way through the melee. Lydecker started firing at him, and Zack fired back, hitting one of the soldiers carrying Max. The others rushed to catch her, and Logan used the distraction to elbow one of the soldiers that was handling him. He tipped his chair and used his weight as leverage to shove the other one to the floor, pinning him there.
Zack fired the last bullet in his gun, narrowly missing Lydecker, who was reloading. "Zack!" Logan yelled, grabbing the gun from the soldier he was pinning to the floor, and tossing it to Zack. Then he pulled himself along the floor to Max, where she lay, the soldiers having put her down to join the fight.
"Lydecker!" Zack yelled. Lydecker looked up to find Zack pointing the gun at him. His gun wasn't loaded yet.
"You won't," he said to Zack, "You can't."
"Think again," Zack said, firing dead on. Lydecker grabbed Tinga, who was fighting a soldier nearby, and threw her in the line of fire before anyone could react.
The bullet hit her in the shoulder, and she slumped to the floor. Zack froze in horror. Lydecker raised his gun to aim at Zack, "Give up. Now."
"Never," Zack replied. He jumped and landed in front of Lydecker. He grabbed his throat with one hand, while punching him in the stomach with the other. Lydecker doubled over. Zack shoved him away and knelt next to Tinga.
"Get Max," she whispered, "Get her and Logan out of here."
"I'm not leaving you," Zack replied.
"Get them first."
Zack stood and went to Max and Logan. He helped Logan back into his chair and picked up Max. Casting an anguished glance at Tinga, he carried Max out the door, Logan following.
Bling was waiting in the Aztec out front. He'd followed them in case they needed back up. He helped Logan into the Aztec.
"Put Max in the back," Logan said to Zack.
"No. We have to split up. You two get out of here. I'll take Max and Tinga. We'll meet back at your place," he told Logan.
Logan was about to protest when the building behind them exploded. Zack ducked, covering Max's limp body. "Go!" he yelled, "I'll meet you there." Then he ran to a nearby Jeep, placed Max in the backseat and took off.
"Follow him," Logan told Bling, "Or we might not see Max again."
"Is our guest secure?" Lydecker said into his cellular as he sped down the highway between Seattle and Tacoma. "Good, keep him there, and keep him comfortable. She'll be looking for him soon enough, but she won't think to look so close to home. I have something to take care of."
He snapped the cell phone shut and pocketed it, turning into a hotel parking lot. Lydecker handed his vehicle over to the valet and entered the hotel.
When he reached room 319, he knocked on the door. Karen Parker answered.
"Yes?" she asked, then she recognized him, "Oh, Mr. Lydecker! Did you find your daughter?"
"Yes, I did, thank you," he said, acting the part of the relieved father.
"Would you like to come in? I can have room service bring us something while you tell me how it went with your daughter."
"Yes, please," he said, stepping into the room.
Karen went to the phone, "What would you like?"
"Before you do that, I want to give you something to say thank you for helping me find her," he said, putting on gloves. He walked up behind her and held the gun to her chest. Karen gasped when she felt the gun. She tried to get out of his grasp, but he held her too tightly. "You understand I can't have any witnesses," Lydecker said before taking her hand, placing it on the gun and pulling the trigger.
The silencer muffled the noise of the shot. Karen fell to the floor, a red stain spreading across her white blouse. Thank God I left Brandon with the baby-sitter, Karen thought, and then her last thought before she lost consciousness and stopped breathing, Damn her.
Lydecker checked her pulse, and once satisfied, placed the gun in Karen's hand. He pulled a pre-typed note out of his pocket and placed it on the desk. 'Dear Logan,' it began.
Lydecker shut the door and left the hotel, retrieving his vehicle from the valet.
Scene 22, 2021, Logan's Penthouse, early morning
After arguing with Zack, and getting answers out of him as to where he'd been, Max, Zack, and Bling drove back to town.
Zack had escaped Manticore three months ago, while Max was still in New York. He hadn't known she wasn't in Seattle, but avoided the city to make sure Lydecker didn't find out she was there. Finally sure he wasn't being trailed out right; Zack had found his way to the cabin to hide out, and walked into a hurricane. Hurricane Max.
Max used her set of keys to get into the building and then the apartment. She threw her bag on the couch and headed straight for the computer. "First thing we need to do is locate all possible bases of operation for Lydecker's lair, and then use process of elimination to find it," she said turning on the computer.
"What makes you so sure Lydecker's keeping Logan in Seattle instead of putting him on the next plane to Manticore where he's on home turf?" Zack asked.
"SOP," Max answered, "In any hostage situation, the hostage taker keeps the hostage in nearby location so as to have him or her handy for any negations, exchanges, or the like," Max said.
"Basically, you don't ignore the fact that he's good Max bait," Bling said.
Scene 23, 2021, Jam Pony, later that morning
Cindy and Herbal were returning from their runs when Sketchy met them outside.
"The magazine crew is here, checking out the place," he told them, "What to we do?"
Cindy thought on it for a moment, "I wish Max was here, but we'll have to play with out her. Just follow my lead," she said entering the messenger service.
"Normal," Cindy called in a syrupy voice, "Got another run for me?"
"Well, looks like somebody finally decided that this was a place of work," he said, excusing himself from the magazine people.
"What do you mean? I've been busting my butt all morning," Cindy whined.
"Yeah and pigs are flying," Normal said. He handed Cindy a package, "Fifth and Main." He looked around the room, "And where the fire truck is Max?"
Meanwhile Sketchy and Herbal were talking to the people from Better Bikes and Messengers.
"So, Reagan is a good boss?" Marsha Miller was asking them.
"Regan? Oh, you mean Normal," Sketchy said, "Oh yeah, he's a great boss as long as he doesn't loose his temper."
"Which he looses often," Herbal interjected.
"And then nothing we do is good enough," Sketchy told them, "In fact, our co-worker Max is at home because Normal made her cry last week when she dropped a package."
"Hasn't come in the whole week," Herbal said.
"I see," Marsha said, her expression growing worried.
"One time he made me deliver a package deep into gang territory, even though it endangered my life," Sketchy stated.
"And when a fellow colleague of ours died, and his ashes were delivered here, Normal wouldn't pay the COD on them," Herbal said, "We had to sacrifice and scrape together our meager wages to pay for it."
"And we didn't even mention the hideous jerkin thingy he wants us to wear," Sketchy said, "It's extremely unflattering."
Normal returned. "Well, I see you've been talking to two of my finest riders," he said patting both Herbal and Sketchy on the back, "All good things I hope."
"Um, would you excuse us," Marsha said to Herbal and Sketchy. They joined Cindy over by the lockers.
"Aren't you supposed to be on a run?" Sketchy asked her.
"Yeah, but I figured I stay and watch."
The three of them watched as Marsha reprimanded Normal for his "harsh treatment of employees" and Normal tried to deny it. Finally Marsha stomped out, pulling her photographer with her. Normal glumly returned to his desk.
Cindy, Herbal, and Sketchy exchanged high fives.
Scene 24, 2021, Logan's, meanwhile
Max and Bling were hard at work, searching for places where Lydecker could be hiding Logan. Zack was securing the area around Fogle Towers, making sure they hadn't been followed and weren't being traced.
Max looked at her watch, realized it was 11:26 and that she was late for work. Not like she was going in . . .
She got up and called Normal. "Normal? It's Max. Listen, I need to take some time off." She waited. "It's personal. And I don't know when I'll be back." Again, she waited. "Ok, fine." She hung up.
"What'd he say?" Bling asked.
"I can take all the time I need, as long as I don't count on my job being there when I get back," she told him, "which doesn't matter, because I probably won't be coming back."
Bling was about to reply when Zack returned. "What you got?" Zack asked.
"Five possible targets," Max told him, "Three within the city, one north, one east, and one on Sedro Island."
"What's the most logical one?" Zack asked.
"Sedro. We're going tonight."
Scene 25, 2021, Sedro Island, that night
Max and Zack snuck silently around the perimeter of the compound. It was supposed to be deserted, but it was crawling with soldiers. This was definitely Lydecker's base of operations.
Max was about to scale the fence when Zack pulled her back. "It's electric, Max. If you don't jump it cleanly, well, it's a severely high voltage. You'll be killed."
"I'll risk it," she told him before she took a leap over it, her feet missing it by a fraction of an inch. Zack shrugged and followed her. They dodged searchlights and snuck past soldiers to get to the main building in the complex. They split up, Max circling to the right while Zack went to the left.
Max was peering in a window, trying to catch a glimpse of what was inside through the dusty, dim glass when she saw the reflection of a figure behind her. She whirled, and catching the person off guard, she tackled them to the ground. The figure fought back, and Max found she was struggling to stay ahead of the other person. Could this be another Manticore, she wondered, or is it a Red?
Finally Max got the better of the masked figure, tackling them to the ground. She ripped off the mask and red hair spilled forth. The figure was a girl, about Max's age. She flipped her hair from her face. It was Tara, Kendra's roommate.
Tara.
"Max?" Tara cried.
"What are you doing here?"
"Max, it's me, Tinga. I'm here to rescue Logan."
"But how?" Max wondered.
"Logan doesn't know it, but I'm part of his informant net," Tinga said, "A few months ago there was a rumor that Lydecker was closing in on him, so I moved to Seattle to keep an eye on things. Apparently Manticore is interested in the effect of it's technology on others."
Max flashed back to the day she'd saved his life by giving him that transfusion. She should have known that Lydecker would find out and be interested in Logan.
Zack returned from his surveillance trip, eyeing Tinga carefully.
"Hey Zack," Tinga said.
"Tinga."
Max remembered that the two hadn't always gotten along, but knew when to put aside their differences for the greater good.
"Logan's in the main building," Tinga said.
"And there's about twenty guards crawling around it," Zack replied.
"Like that's stopped us before?" Max said.
Zack and Tinga grinned. The three figures snuck silently up to the main building in the complex. Zack motioned them to split up, each heading in a different way. Tinga took the roof and worked her way down. Zack took the tunnels underneath and worked his way up. Max just walked straight in.
"Hello, Max," Lydecker said, standing behind Logan with a hand on his chair, "Where's Zack?"
"Don't know. But I've come to turn myself in. Me for Logan."
Logan was desperately trying to get Max's attention. He couldn't let her do this. "Max, No!" he yelled.
Lydecker backhanded him. "Where are the others, Max? Is Zack here? Tinga? Or maybe Jondie," he sneered.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but it's just me."
"Max, I know you kids. You forget, I taught you everything I know. You wouldn't come here alone, and make an offer like that," Lydecker said, "Who else is here?"
"Me. Only me. Guess you didn't teach me very well, did you?" Max replied.
"I have to say, this is not how I wanted it, but," he motioned around him, "meet your siblings. The ones who didn't escape."
Max's head swiveled from side to side, taking them in. They advanced on her, an angry look in their eyes. They didn't remember her. They saw her as the enemy. Max tried to suppress the feelings that were rising I inside her. She didn't want to fight them, but it was clear that Lydecker wasn't going to hand Logan over.
Max managed to signal to Zack and Tinga to stay hidden. Assessing her options, she pulled herself into a fighting stance facing the biggest of the X5's that were coming at her. Max threw a punch and followed it up with a roundhouse, making direct contact both times.
But unfortunately, her attacker grabbed her ankle, throwing her into the air. She landed with a thud, momentarily getting the wind knocked out of her. Recovering, she stood and attacked the second one, while trying to throw the first off of her back. Max bent down and grabbed the shoulders of the hanging on her back. Flipping him, she used the momentum to catapult herself into the air, spiraling at the third attacker, hitting him in the chest with both feet.
But they had the upper hand. They'd been trained and tested by Lydecker longer than she had. They knew all of her moves, and more. Max was finally subdued by her 'siblings' and brought to Lydecker.
"It's not as bad as you remember, Max," Lydecker said, before sticking a needle into her vein, knocking her out.
Zack and Tinga attacked.
Everything exploded into action. Soldiers fired at Zack and Tinga, who were dodging bullets as they fought off numerous attackers, mostly the other X5's. Tinga was wrestli wrestling with one of the other Fivers, a girl they'd called Risa. Risa had been a match for Tinga in the Manticore days, and she still was now.
Tinga blocked Risa's spin kick and lashed out with one of her own that barely made contact as Risa spun into a new attack position. Tinga thrust her hand forward, connecting with Risa's chest, pushing her back. While Risa recovered, Tinga glanced over at Zack.
Zack was fighting another X5, a guy named Keiley, and disarming a soldier at the same time. From the looks of things, he was holding his own.
Lydecker, meanwhile, was calling for soldiers to take Max and Logan. Zack, disposing of the soldier and knocking out Keiley, forced his way through the melee. Lydecker started firing at him, and Zack fired back, hitting one of the soldiers carrying Max. The others rushed to catch her, and Logan used the distraction to elbow one of the soldiers that was handling him. He tipped his chair and used his weight as leverage to shove the other one to the floor, pinning him there.
Zack fired the last bullet in his gun, narrowly missing Lydecker, who was reloading. "Zack!" Logan yelled, grabbing the gun from the soldier he was pinning to the floor, and tossing it to Zack. Then he pulled himself along the floor to Max, where she lay, the soldiers having put her down to join the fight.
"Lydecker!" Zack yelled. Lydecker looked up to find Zack pointing the gun at him. His gun wasn't loaded yet.
"You won't," he said to Zack, "You can't."
"Think again," Zack said, firing dead on. Lydecker grabbed Tinga, who was fighting a soldier nearby, and threw her in the line of fire before anyone could react.
The bullet hit her in the shoulder, and she slumped to the floor. Zack froze in horror. Lydecker raised his gun to aim at Zack, "Give up. Now."
"Never," Zack replied. He jumped and landed in front of Lydecker. He grabbed his throat with one hand, while punching him in the stomach with the other. Lydecker doubled over. Zack shoved him away and knelt next to Tinga.
"Get Max," she whispered, "Get her and Logan out of here."
"I'm not leaving you," Zack replied.
"Get them first."
Zack stood and went to Max and Logan. He helped Logan back into his chair and picked up Max. Casting an anguished glance at Tinga, he carried Max out the door, Logan following.
Bling was waiting in the Aztec out front. He'd followed them in case they needed back up. He helped Logan into the Aztec.
"Put Max in the back," Logan said to Zack.
"No. We have to split up. You two get out of here. I'll take Max and Tinga. We'll meet back at your place," he told Logan.
Logan was about to protest when the building behind them exploded. Zack ducked, covering Max's limp body. "Go!" he yelled, "I'll meet you there." Then he ran to a nearby Jeep, placed Max in the backseat and took off.
"Follow him," Logan told Bling, "Or we might not see Max again."